


Day 6: Pumpkin

by ApophisOfficer



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Promptober 2019, Wordcount: 500-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-27 07:18:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20944472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApophisOfficer/pseuds/ApophisOfficer
Summary: Pumpkin carving was not an activity Bruce thought he would be engaging in this weekend. Granted, with his kids, he should have known better than to think he’d know what he did the weekend before Halloween.





	Day 6: Pumpkin

Pumpkin carving was not an activity Bruce thought he would be engaging in this weekend. Granted, with his kids, he should have known better than to think he’d know what he did the weekend before Halloween.

It had begun when Cass pleadingly looked up at Dick and asked if they could carve pumpkins. Dick, being the enthusiastic person he was, had run with the request. He’d talked Damian around with concerning ease. Bruce would have to keep an eye on them both in the coming years, lest he end up on the wrong side of some vicious pranks akin to the few times Dick and Jason had teamed up against him. 

Tim hadn’t needed persuasion. Dick had just plopped him down in front of a pumpkin before handing him a cup of coffee and the young man had been content to stay, never mind that it was nearly 2 in the afternoon. Bruce couldn’t judge by any means, his own sleep schedule was the thing of sleep therapists’ nightmares.

Duke, being his only slightly normal child, had just come when asked. It was literally that easy. Bruce couldn't even take credit for picking him, he'd been an amnesiac when the kids collectively adopted Duke. He wasn't sure what that said about him, but to be fair his kids had mostly chosen him rather than the other way around. 

Stephanie was almost a given at this kind of event. She thrust herself into childish activities like this with an excitement that easily matched his eldest. 

Jason, however, was a startling if not unpleasant presence at this charade. He had no clue what any of his other children could have offered the young man to get him here, but the mischievous grin and the diabolical look in his eyes said nothing good. There would undoubtedly be pumpkin guts in someone’s hair within the hour.

Probably his.

As Tim slid sideways into Jason who did nothing but roll his eyes and prop his younger brother back up as Duke looked on in amusement, Bruce decided it was worth it. 

Now if he could just survive his children’s enthusiasm, they’d be great. He decided not to pick a pumpkin for himself, electing instead to help Cassandra with her own. Dick had also forgone his pumpkin when Damian slumped a little at the announcement of Bruce's assistance. Bruce had a moment of serious panic before Dick jumped in to ask Damian to “help” him so they could make a better pumpkin than anyone else. 

Those Al Ghul-Wayne combined competitive genes had kicked in and instead of being sad to not be the one working with his father, Damian had started talking trash of a far more lighthearted nature than Bruce could ever remember. There wasn’t a single insult to anyone’s parentage or their validity as a family member and he only had to look at Dick’s giant grin to know they’d been working on that together. 

An hour later, there had only been one pumpkin guts fight which ended up with everyone getting disgusting goop in their hair, even Cass because she had merrily tilted her head down to let Stephanie smash it in as the boys chanted “one of us.” 

Duke proving to me the most sane of them all, just carved out a very simple bat symbol.No miss, no fuss, and fitting of any kid who grew up in Gotham. Bruce was a little proud that at least one of them went with his own symbol.

Jason, however, had carved a wonder woman crest into his but only after heavy petitioning to not simply carve out a cartoon penis for the sake of his younger siblings. He complained the whole time but came out with a barely lopsided creation that he smugly presented to the others. Dick had teased him about a hero-crush that Bruce barely remember Jason having on the Amazonian but the way he spluttered and went pink around the ears made all his siblings laugh.

Damian and Dick had managed an incredibly detailed rendition of Alfred the cat thanks mostly to Damian’s concentration. Dick just tried to distract him from his task, making the boy feel both like the plea for help was genuine and that he could still goof off like the others without consequence. 

Dick really did know how to work around all the kid’s hang-ups. It was impressive when Bruce couldn’t figure out where to even begin without stumbling over what seemed to be a million landmines. He’d have to ask Dick for tips and hope it didn’t get held over him for too long. 

Tim carved the smallest smiley face in the entire world in the center of his pumpkin and called it a day. He’d then proceeded to mock Jason’s artistic skills with all the irreverence a younger brother could muster. Picking at him until Jason pulled him into a noogie with a shout. The teasing didn’t seem to be going anywhere bad so he left it alone. 

Stephanie was doing something that involved her large pumpkin eating another. He wasn’t touching that with a ten foot pole.

Cass had asked for a ballerina, so he searched for a simple design on his phone and they’d gotten to it, carving out skinny little slivers and trying not to take too much at a time lest they overestimate themselves. They managed a nice, if simple, ballerina to join the parade of pumpkins for the front porch and Cass proudly bounded around to show everyone as Bruce looked on in pride at his children. 

It wasn’t what he thought he’d be doing with his Saturday but was he watched his kids descend on the warm snickerdoodle’s Alfred brought out to the patio like well wolves, he couldn’t think of a single other place he would rather be. 

A stray bit of pumpkin goo went flying past his face and Bruce resigned himself to a life of rotting pumpkin smell.

**Author's Note:**

> Where is this in the timeline? Better question: Do any of us really care anymore?
> 
> Thanks to Grammarly.com for the beta read of sorts.
> 
> You can find my prompt sheet here: https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/854695


End file.
